JPS63230368A - Recording method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate differences in density between each of heat generating element arrays and enhance the quality of recorded images, by a method wherein at the time of recording by a heat generating element array located on the upstream side, all heat generating elements are operated to generate heat by designating a preheating time for the elements, irrespective of the presence or absence of recording by a heat generating element array located adjacent to and on the downstream side of the upstream-side heat generating element array. CONSTITUTION:When it is discriminated that an operating cycle is an odd cycle, designation of heat generation for all of dot patterns in the odd cycle, i.e., DA1-DA8 is set into a driver 15 through a signal line Sb. The period of time t3 for preheating an ink ribbon 8 by heat generating elements DA1-DA8 is set to be shorter than the period of time t1 necessary for an ink on a thermal transfer ribbon 9 to be transferred onto a recording paper 10 through melting or a reduction in viscosity. For record patterns in the odd cycle, energization for a period of time to is already finished, so that an energization time of t1-t3 is sufficient in this case. For heat generating elements DB1-DB8 corresponding to record patterns in an even cycle, energization is conducted for a period of time t2 set in consideration of the quantity of heat accumulated as a result of the preheating of the ink ribbon 9 by the odd array of heat generating elements.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Technical Field> The present invention relates to a recording method in a thermal recording device used in a word processor, electronic typewriter, facsimile machine, or the like.

<Prior Art> Conventionally known thermal recording devices include a thermal recording type that uses thermal paper and a thermal transfer recording type that uses an ink film coated with heat-melting ink.

This thermal recording method is carried out using a recording head capable of generating heat according to an image signal in any of the above-mentioned methods. As shown in FIG. 8, the structure of this recording head is that a plurality of heating elements 1d are arranged in a line on the surface of a glaze layer formed on a head substrate la, and electrodes 1b and lc are attached to each heating element. The heating element is configured to generate heat in response to an image signal.

During recording, the recording head is moved in the recording direction and a heat pulse is applied to each heating element 1d to perform recording. In the case of a sub-type recording head, in order to prevent the recording head from overheating, Usually, the heat generating element is not driven to generate heat continuously, but a cooling time is provided between drives. Therefore, there is a problem in that high-speed recording is difficult due to the relationship with the cooling time.

In view of the above points, a two-row recording head has been proposed in which two rows of heating elements 1d, A and B, are arranged on a head substrate as shown in FIG. This double-row type recording head can be constructed in approximately the same planar shape as a single-row type recording head, and by driving two rows of heating elements simultaneously, it has the advantage of being able to record at twice the speed compared to the sub-type head. There is.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> However, the two-row type recording head has a problem in that the recording quality is poorer than that of the single-row type recording head. This is because, for example, in the case of a thermal transfer recording type, when recording, the recording head is moved in the direction of the arrow in FIG. The ribbon 9 has already been heated near the A row, and the ribbon B
When entering the row position, it has a certain amount of heat storage.

Therefore, the dots recorded in the rear B row are always darker and larger than those in the A row, and for each row, the dots appear to have different shading between the even and odd dots, and the dots also become larger. There was a problem that the recording quality deteriorated due to the small size.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and to make it possible to maintain a constant density of a recorded image even when using a recording head having multiple rows of heating elements capable of high-speed recording.The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems. This means is a recording method that performs thermal recording using a recording head in which a plurality of heating elements that can individually generate heat in response to a heating signal are arranged in a plurality of rows from the upstream side to the downstream side in the recording direction. The present invention is characterized in that when energizing a heating element array located upstream in the recording direction, a preheating time is specified for all the heating elements constituting the heating element array.

<Operation> When a heating element array located upstream in the recording direction generates heat, the upstream heating element By specifying the preheating time and generating heat for all of the above, it is possible to obtain a recorded image without shading.

<Example> Application of the recording method of the present invention to a thermal transfer recording device -3= An example of the case will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of a recording head for implementing the above-described means, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a serial type thermal transfer recording apparatus using the recording head, and FIG. 3 is a diagram of a control circuit. It is a configuration explanatory diagram.

The recording head 1 according to this embodiment is a two-row type recording head, as shown in FIG. , ~DB, are arranged, and the above A.

A common electrode 1b is arranged between rows B, and signal electrodes 1c are arranged on both sides, and by applying energizing energy according to the image signal to the signal electrode IC, each heating element D
A, -oA8 and IIB, -DB are configured so that they can individually generate heat. In the case of this embodiment, there are eight heating elements each, and the symbol DA indicates the heating element of the A row, and the symbol DB indicates the heating element of the B row.

This recording head 1 has a guide rail 2 as shown in FIG.
The carriage 3 is mounted on a carriage 3 slidably supported along the IJ 4 a .

It is configured to be able to reciprocate in the direction of arrow X (main scanning direction) along a platen roller 7 by a motor 6a via a wire 5 wound around a wire 4b.

Further, a detachable ribbon cassette 8 is mounted on the carriage 3.
A thermal transfer ribbon 9 is housed in the cassette 8. The thermal transfer ribbon 9 is transferred from the supply pulley 8a to the take-up pulley 8b by the motor 6b rotating the take-up boob IJ 8b during the recording operation.
It is designed to be rolled out sequentially.

Further, the recording head 1 is configured to be oscillated by a motor 6c between a head-down position where it contacts the platen roller 7 and a head-up position where it separates from the platen roller 7.
The platen roller 7 is attached so as to be able to be pressed with a predetermined pressure via a recording medium (recording paper, plastic sheet, etc., hereinafter referred to as "recording paper J") 10 supported by a recording medium.

Therefore, when recording, the recording head 1 is turned down, the carriage 3 is moved in the direction of the arrow X in FIG. 2, and the heating element is made to generate heat by the method described later.
The thermal transfer ink on the thermal transfer ribbon 9 is melted or softened in an image pattern and transferred onto the recording paper 10 . When the transfer of - line is completed, the recording head 1 is raised and the carriage 3 is returned to the home position, and the motor 5d rotates the platen roller 7 to convey the recording paper 10 by one line in the direction of the arrow X. Predetermined recording is performed by repeating the same operation as above.

The recording head 1 is driven by a control circuit shown in FIG.

To explain its control configuration, in FIG. 3, 11 is a host device, which sends control codes such as character or image data to be recorded, carriage return, line feet, etc. to the recording device via a signal line Sa. Send it to the CPU 12. Then, the CPU 12 gives a drive signal to the driver 15 via the signal lines Sb and Sc, and the driver 15 controls the recording head 1, the carriage feed motor 6a, the thermal transfer ribbon winding motor 6b, and the recording head swing motor 6.
Each of the C1 paper feed motors 6d is controlled.

The driver 15 transmits the logic level drive signal from the CPU 12 to each heating element DA, ~DAs, and DB, ~DB.
The driving current is converted to a level necessary for driving 8, and a driving current is supplied to each element from a power supply 17 via a switch 16.

Note that the CPU 12 includes a RAM 13 used as a buffer memory, etc., and a ROM that stores a predetermined program.
It consists of a one-chip element integrally configured with 14 elements. Further, the carriage feed motor 6a and the paper feed motor 6d are four-phase pulse motors, Sφ1 to Sφ4 and Fφ1, respectively.
It has four excitation phases of ~Fφ4. Further, the thermal transfer ribbon winding motor 6b and the recording head swinging motor 6c are composed of a DC motor or a stepping motor.

Further, the recording head 1 described above has heating elements DA, -DAa, and DB, -DB8 arranged as shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the recording head 1 seen from the rear, and the positions of each heating element are indicated by broken lines.

In particular, there is a heating element D on the upstream side with respect to the recording direction shown by arrow a.
A, ~DA, (single circle in Figure 4) are arranged, and heating elements DB, ~DB, (type 2 light in Figure 4) are arranged on the downstream side, and the two rows of heating elements are Exactly 1 dot,
are located far apart.

FIG. 5 shows the dot array of a recorded image when recording using the recording head 1. As shown in FIG. The single circles in FIG. 5 are the dots recorded by the heating elements DA and -DAIl in the A row, and the type 2 light is recorded by the heating elements DB and -DB in the B row, respectively.

As is clear from FIG. 5, in this example, the odd-numbered dots (-type light) are generated by the heating elements of the A-row, ~DA, and the even-numbered dots (type-2 light) are generated by the B-row heating elements. Heat generating element DB, -o
Record each using B8. However, as shown in Fig. 4, the heating elements in the two rows A and B are placed exactly one dot apart, so as will be described later, adjacent odd and even dots in the recording direction are not recorded in consecutive recording cycles.

For example, in this embodiment, the first even-numbered dots in FIG. 5 are recorded in the fourth cycle after the first odd-numbered dots are recorded. If the A and B rows are separated by dot n, then the odd numbered dots on the upstream side in the recording direction (the side to be recorded first in FIG. 5) and the adjacent downstream side (fourth dot)
The even numbered dots (on the side recorded later in the figure) are recorded n+2 cycles after the odd numbered dots are recorded.

That is, if the current heat cycle m is the odd-numbered cycle, the even-numbered dots downstream and adjacent to the odd-numbered dots recorded in that cycle are recorded using the information of the m1n+2th cycle.

Conversely, if the current heat cycle l is the even numbered cycle, the odd numbered dots adjacent to the upstream side of the even numbered dots recorded in that cycle will have the information G of the R-(n+2)th cycle. It will be recorded.

Therefore, in this embodiment, since the dots are printed between heating elements in rows A and B, in the case of an even number cycle, the print information of the odd number dots adjacent to the upstream side of the even number dots recorded in that cycle is is 7! - This means that the information was recorded in the third cycle.

Next, a driving method for recording with the recording head 1 will be explained with reference to the timing chart of FIG. 6 and the flowchart of FIG. 7.

Here, Sφ1 to Sφ4 in FIG. 6 indicate the timing of the drive signal of the excitation phase of the motor 6a.
As shown in the figure, a corresponds to the length of the recording cycle C, which is the period from switching to two-phase excitation to switching, that is, the period during which the carriage 3 is stopped at one position.

Further, symbols D^, ~DA, DB, -DB in FIG. 6 indicate the drive timings of the corresponding heat generating elements, respectively. Furthermore, the dot-dash lines in FIG. 6 indicate the divisions of the recording operation for one character, and one character is performed in six recording cycles.

In the recording operation, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7, in step Sl, recording data and control data are transferred from the host device 11 via the signal line Sa, the recording buffer becomes full (FULL), and recording preparation is completed. .

Next, in S2, the CPU 12 sets the excitation directions of the excitation phases Sφ1 to Sφ4 of the carriage feeding motor 6a so that the carriage 3 moves in the direction of the arrow X in FIG.

Subsequently, in step S3, it is determined whether the recording cycle is an odd cycle or an even cycle.

If it is determined in step S3 that the cycle is an odd numbered cycle, the process moves to step S9, and all dot patterns of the odd numbered cycle,
That is, heat generation instructions for OA and -OA8 are set in the driver 15 via the signal line sb.

Subsequently, in step SIO, a heat pulse is applied to the heating elements DA, -DA. The length of the heat pulse is step S.
This continues until the timer t3 counts up in step S12 when the timer t counts up.
The heat pulse of the heating elements DA, ~DA, is cut off.

Here, t is the ink ribbon 8 and the heating element DA.

- This is the time for preheating with DAe, and is the time required for the ink on the thermal transfer ribbon 9 to melt or become less viscous and to be transferred onto the recording paper 10.1. A shorter time is set.

In step S13, a heating instruction for the heating element corresponding to the recording pattern of the odd cycle, that is, the recording dots to be recorded on the recording paper 10, is set in the driver 15 via the signal line sb.

In step S14, a heat pulse is applied to the heating element instructed in step S13. The heat pulse is activated by timer 1. in step S15. -13 is given until the count amplifies.

In step S15, timer 1. -13 counts up, the heat pulse is cut off in step S16, and step S
17.

Here, tl is the time required for the ink on the thermal transfer ribbon 9 to melt or become less viscous and to be transferred onto the recording paper 10,
Therefore, since the energization for the time t3 has already ended, the energization time here is 1. -1° is sufficient.

In step S17, the cycle counter for measuring the recording cycle is incremented by 1, and the process moves to step S318.

In step 318, it is determined whether all data in the recording buffer has been recorded. If recording has not ended, the process returns to step S2.

After returning to step S2 described above, the process proceeds to step S3, and if it is determined that the recording is an even cycle, the process proceeds to step S4.

In step S4, a heat generation instruction for the heat generating elements DB, -DBe corresponding to the recording pattern of the even cycle 1 is set in the driver 15 via the signal line sb.

In step S5, timer 1. -Idle operation for a measurement time of 12.

In step S6, a heat pulse is applied to the heating element specified in step S4. This heat pulse is applied until the timer t2 counts up in step S7.

When the timer t2 counts up in step S7, the heat pulse is cut off in step S8, and then the process moves to step S17.

The timer t2 is a time set in consideration of the amount of accumulated heat since the ink ribbon 9 is preheated and accumulated heat by the preheating heat generation in the odd numbered rows.

In step S17, 1 is added to the recording cycle and the process moves to step 318.

After that, recording is completed by repeating each step.

In this embodiment, an example has been described in which there are eight heating elements in one row, but the number of heating elements is not limited to this, nor is it limited to two rows.

<Effects of the Invention> As explained in detail above, the present invention provides an advantage in that when a heating element array located upstream with respect to the recording progress direction executes recording, the heating element array located downstream adjacent to the heating element array Regardless of whether or not recording is being performed, by specifying the preheating time and generating heat for all heating elements, it is possible to preheat and eliminate the difference in shading between each row, thereby improving the quality of recorded images. have.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of the recording head, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of the thermal transfer recording device, FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the control circuit, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the arrangement of heating elements of the recording head, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of the recording head. 6 is a timing chart of heat generation, FIG. 7 is a flowchart of heat generation operation, and FIGS. 8 and 9 are explanatory diagrams of the prior art. 1 is a recording head, 1a is a head substrate, 1b is a common electrode,
IC is a signal electrode, 2 is a guide rail, 3 is a carriage,
4a, 4b are pulleys, 5 is a wire, 6a, 6b, 6c,
6d is a motor, 7 is a platen roller, 8 is a ribbon cassette, 8a is a supply boob IJ, 8b is a take-up pulley, 9
10 is a thermal transfer ribbon, 10 is a recording paper, 11 is a host, 12 is a CPU, 13 is a RAM 514 is a ROM, 15 is an F' driver, 16 is a switch, and 17 is a power source. Applicant Canon Co., Ltd. Agent Patent Attorney Shukichi Nakagawa = 15- Figure 1 Figure 4 υA1 = 16- Figure 3 Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a recording method that performs thermal recording using a recording head in which a plurality of heating elements that can individually generate heat in response to a heating signal are arranged in multiple rows from the upstream side to the downstream side in the recording direction, A recording method characterized in that when energizing a heating element array located on the upstream side in a direction, a preheating time is specified for all the heating elements constituting the heating element array.